Robin, The Prince of Thieves
by jclark775
Summary: Richard Grayson was never adopted by Bruce Wayne, instead he grows up on the streets as a thief in Gotham City. Will the bird and his brethren be caged by the bat, or will he and his brethren fly free? A Young Justice AU. Special thanks to KizzenNekoLuzZeBatgangYJ for making this cover!
1. Prelude Part One

Robin, "The Prince of Thieves"

**A/N:** Hey guys, still no update for "The Start of the X," but I promise that it'll be updated really soon. I was starting to work on it today, but then I got an idea for this Young Justice AU! This started to spawn lots of thoughts and so I decided that I'd begin this story.

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, they all belong to DC.**

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He knew that stealing was wrong, but he also knew that in some situations it was right. It is needed- required. If he wanted to survive on the streets and make it to tomorrow, then he would have to steal to make it there. Steal for him and steal for his family.

He didn't want Jason, his little brother, to continue being part of this life, and so he stole for both of their sakes. Jason wasn't his biological brother, no, but that didn't mean that he wasn't his brother. They had become blood-brothers that day on the street, when they first met. Jason had been scrounging around the streets and stealing small time stuff like apples, occasionally Jason would steal items so that he could get some money for food or some clothing. Then, one day Jason Todd had met Richard "Dick" Grayson, when they both were trying to steal the same apple from a concession stand.

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Richard was an orphan just like Jason. People called him a street rat or trash, but he paid them no mind. After all they weren't living his life. Richard had been an orphan since he was eight-years-old. He had to endure living in Gotham's excuse for orphanage, and at one point he even had to live in a detention facility! Just because Gotham needed to find room for him, Richard had to endure an effigy of what Gotham called care that was provided so that they could make more space in the orphanage for some other "lucky" child. Richard escaped that place after a year of enduring it, when he couldn't take it anymore, and he lived on the streets more content, free and happy than he had when he was in the orphanage.

When their hands grabbed that apple, and they caused a ruckus, by both being caught in the act, they each grabbed a different apple and ran for it! The two boys, coincidentally, ran the same way, down the same alleys and leapt the same fences.

"Quit following me!" Complained Jason.

"I'm not following you, I was going this way first." Said Richard.

"It's your fault I got caught." Jason shot back.

"What're you talking about? _We_ got each other caught, so we're both in this together." Richard said with a sly smirk.

The boys' running slowed, and they switched into a calmer walk to appear unsuspicious. They had lost anyone that might have come after them. Richard tossed an apple into the air, caught it and took a bite of it, victoriously.

"You're pretty fast." Richard said as he walked.

"You are too," Jason replied tiredly "you managed to keep up with me."

The two boys sat on a bench in a partially run down part of Gotham. The buildings in this part were stony gray, beat up and some were even boarded up. Glass shards were on the sidewalks from old stores that had been broken into. Theft was common in this part of Gotham, but that was because no one in this part had any money. Every citizen that called this area home was broke, indebt or abandoned. It was a great place to be if you were a thief, because the Gotham police force didn't come here more often than they had to. A person could be killed here and an officer wouldn't come to the scene of the crime for a few days, and that was only if the killing was reported!

"So, shall we introduce ourselves then?" Richard offered with a casual grin.

"Why should we?" Taking a bite of his apple, Jason replied.

"Well I thought it'd be best to know my new brother's name." Richard answered with a laugh at Jason's bewildered expression.

"W-what're you going on about?" Jason, caught off-guard, asked as he choked on his apple.

"Breath!" Richard called out as he worked on the Heimlich. When Jason finally stopped choking Richard answered.

"You and I are going to be brothers, to street kids against the world!" Richard answered with a laugh.

Jason's mouth was agape. "Are you crazy? You almost got me caught today! I'd have to be insane to work with you."

"Remember, _we_ almost got _each other _caught," Richard said laughing as if he were reminiscing on an elementary school prank with a friend "besides this is _Gotham_. This is the land of the crazies."

"Give me one good reason to work with you." Jason said, tempted. Jason wasn't dumb, he knew that if he wanted to do more than simply survive from day to day, then he'd need help.

"I have a _house_." Richard whispered into Jason's ear, over emphasizing the last word, as he raised his eyebrows in a "you know you want to" sort of way.

"You have a house?" Jason asked, voice full of disbelief.

"I have a house. It's a fixer-upper, but one day it might qualify as a fully fit home." Richard said temptingly.

"I want to see this 'fixer-upper' before I decide anything." Jason decided warily.

"Okay, let's go." Richard said joyously as he pulled Jason by the wrist and ran.

"H-hey, slow down! You're going to pull my arm off!" Jason hollered overdramatically, as he ran the way Richard was pulling him.

The two boys ran for a couple minutes until they arrived at a building a few blocks away. It was an old, rundown apartment complex. The doors to the building were barricaded with giant sheets of lumber, and nailed to be close permanently. The building had been closed down because of lack of business and for structural issues. Many parts of the building were falling apart on the inside and there was random holes through floors and ceilings. There was no visible way into the place.

"Here we are." Richard said with a grin.

"Where? There's no way in." Jason said disappointed. He was hoping to have a constant place to stay.

"It _looks_ that way, doesn't it?" Richard said with a knowing smile.

"What're you getting at?" Jason asked curious.

"You just have to know the magic word." Richard said with a sly grin.

"Pfft," Jason sputtered ", you really are crazy."

"Close your eyes."

"Why?" Jason was wary.

"Just do it. I'll say the magic word and the gateway will appear, magically."

"Right, fine, I'll give you to the count of three." Jason said as he closed his eyes.

"All righty." Richard laughed.

"1"

Jason heard a metallic clang and the sounds of something falling, then another metal sound.

"Abracadabra." Jason heard Richard say. He could almost hear a little chuckle escape Richard's mouth. He decided he should resume counting.

"2"

This time Jason heard what sounded like a rope unfurling and being thrown.

"3" and with that Jason open his eyes. The first thing he saw was a metal, fire escape ladder that fell from the third floor. The ladder reached to the top of the first floor level and then there was a rope that connected to the bottom step of the ladder. With the extension, the boys would be able to climb the ladder.

"Magic." Richard said while giving Jason "jazz hands".

"Or a rock." Jason said, identifying what he assumed Richard threw to get the ladder down.

"Don't forget the rope." Richard said as he started climbing. "Come on, it's safe."

Jason cautiously grabbed the rope and pulled his body up it. Once he got to the steps on the ladder the trip went quick. After he got to the top of the ladder, Jason was guided into the window of a room. Richard then hit the side of the ladder set, and, because of its spring, it sprang back into its curled position at the top of the escape. Richard grabbed a small metal rod and shoved it through a hole in the leg of the ladder, now if something hit it then it would stay up. Richard untied the rope and brought it into the apartment room with him.

"Welcome to my humble abode." Richard said happily.

It was a simple apartment with a living room, a kitchen area, two bathrooms, and a bedroom with two beds. The floor was a light brown, and the ceiling was white. It was one of the few apartment rooms that weren't messed up on that floor. Richard didn't know what the rooms on the upper-levels looked like, because the stairwells to there were split in the center, and, although he was an acrobat, he wasn't going to risk that trip yet. His "house" had a low-lying chandelier type thing and a high up ceiling fan. The beds were plain with thin white sheets on them and a blue comforter over each bed. The living room had a television that didn't work, because it lacked cable and electricity, a wooden table, a red pullout bed couch, two lamps on two stands that were place on either side of the couch, and four black chair around the table. The small kitchen area had a sink, a stove, a mini-fridge, an oven and a microwave. The room was decently kept even though it was in a rundown apartment complex.

"Like the place? Not much light at night, it'll need some candles or a flashlight, but it keeps the rain out, helps keep you warm, and it's safer than being out there because no one can get up here." Richard said as he gave Jason a tour.

Jason thought about it, and it was true. The building would be safer for him than trying to find different places to sleep and apparently no one else could get up there.

"It'll take some getting used to, but I think it'll work out." Jason decided. Jason's answer made Richard happy, now he'd have company.

"Awesome, we'll work together during the day and chill here at night." Richard said. "Now I think we should introduce ourselves."

"Yeah, that'd probably be smart. I'm Jason, and I'm ten-years-old." Jason said as he stuck out his hand. Richard was quick to shake Jason's hand.

"My name Is Richard, but I prefer to be called 'Dick,' and I'm twelve-years-old." Richard said.

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**A/N:** Before anyone says it, I know that the age differences between Dick and Jason isn't three years, but I have it as three years for the sake of the story and the fact that it's an AU. I have some fun plans for this story, the team, Batman, Wally and Roy. This is sort of a prelude chapter and the next one or two will also, most likely, by prelude chapters as well.

**Side note:** While I do enjoy getting favorites, and having people follow my stories I would really like some reviews too. If you enjoyed the story, then could you please write a quick review of what you thought?


	2. Prelude Part Two

**A/N:** Thank you to anyone who reviewed, followed or marked this story as favorite! Honestly, there were a lot of good reviews that made me consider stuff that I hadn't thought about.

**Special thanks to:** **KizzenNekoLuzZeBatgangYJ **for making the cover!

To **traught fan**: I will explain the Artemis thing in a later chapter, but your review was good and I hadn't thought of that.

To **blacktarget**: I saw what you meant after I wrote this chapter and looked back on the other one, so I aged the two up just a little so it'd seem more normal.

To **Sairey13**: After I read your review I laughed, because I started thinking about the discussion the two could/would have about Jason being taller and looking older. As for the second part, you'll have to wait and see, some will be revealed today.

To **Miyazaki Kyoto**: That was almost the name of the story, but I decided on this one instead lol.

To **Ann b-010:** I had thought about having them join as well, but while I know some about Tim, I don't really know enough to get Damian's personality right, but if I can find some stuff to help me get into their characters better then I might add them, but I don't really have them planned into the story currently. However, I did watch "Son of Batman" recently and I do think Damian is interesting.

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Robin, "The Prince of Thieves"

After three months of living together, the two boys bonded. It seemed that with each passing week the boys' bond grew stronger and stronger. Dick and Jason still lived in their quaint house on the third floor of the apartment complex; however, some things had changed. The countertop had some candles on it for the dark nights, the table had some cards sitting on it for when the two boys had a desire to play cards, and on the side stool tables, where the lamps once stood, there was now a large stack of games, most of which were stolen by Jason. The lamps were now on the ground near the side tables. The house now had bowls, plates and silverware, but it did not have electricity, which meant no refrigerated goods would last long. The fridge was instead used to store packaged goods that did not have other places to go such as a bag of apples, a pack of saltine crackers, two containers of chocolate chip cookies, a bundle of bananas, two boxes of pop-tarts, several individual water bottles, and many boxes of different types of cereals.

The two boys were content with what they had gotten. Now that the two boys worked together, and they had a place to store their steals, they could relax for a couple of days. Jason was just lying on the couch in the living room, and Dick was throwing playing cards at a wall.

"Hey, Dick," Jason spoke, his interest was piqued.

"Hm? Yeah, Jay?" Dick spoke, losing focus for a second.

"What're you doing?" Jason asked as he lifted himself from the couch and moved to sit next to Dick.

"Earlier this week, I saw this man dressed up like a clown," Dick explain, "a crowd was gathered around him, and he was doing these card tricks. He had an audience member check to see if the card was normal, then he leisurely threw the card at a wall and it split into the wall!"

"No way," Jason said with awe, "are you serious?"

"Completely! I asked him how he did it, and all he told me was that it was magic, but I think it was a slight of the hand kind of trick. That's why I'm trying to figure out how to do it."

"Let me try," Jason said as he grabbed some playing cards, "how did he throw it?"

"Like this." Dick said as he showed Jason the motions. Dick waved his hand through the air, keeping the palm of his hand pointing down, and held two playing cards, one between his pointer and middle fingers, and the other between his middle and ring fingers. "Then he went like this." Dick said as he waved his arm in front of him. After the quick wave, Dick quickly flipped his hand over and threw the cards in a split second at the wall. They both hit, but they both fell flat down.

"What's with all the hand motions?" Jason asked as he looked carefully at the cards.

"To distract your eyes, I think." Dick answered.

"I think you and the audience were played." Jason said as he tried and failed to do the trick.

"You're only saying that because you can't do it." Dick said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. He was trying to egg Jason on.

"No, if it's possible, then I'll be able to do it." Jason said as he took the Dick's bait.

"No you wouldn't." Dick egged on.

"I totally could!" Jason said as he grabbed a handful of cards.

"If you say so." Dick replied casually as he held in his inner laughter. He was just messing with his brother to get him riled up.

"I'll do it by the end of the night, just watch me!" Jason exclaimed with determination. If Dick was going to challenge him, then he was going to prove Dick wrong.

"All right, well while you do that I'll go grab some snacks for us." Dick said as he went to the refrigerator. He grabbed one of the cookie boxes. "While you do that, I'm going to do the cookie challenge."

"What's that?" Jason asked, curious, as he continued throwing cards at the wall.

"It's where you lean your head back, put a cookie on your forehead and try to get it into your mouth, without taking it off your face." Dick answered as he pulled a cookie out of the box.

"That'll be fun to watch." Jason said as he looked at Dick, who had started to do his activity. "You look like a doof." Jason laughed heartily.

"At least I'll be able to succeed, can you say the same?" Dick said as he stuck his tongue out at Jason.

"I can succeed." Jason said as he threw a card at Dick's face. The card hit the cookie that was close to Dick's mouth and knocked it off his face.

"Hey! Not cool, Jay." Dick said as he threw a cookie at Jason.

After Dick returned fire a battle of epic proportions occurred – a card versus cookie fight! Jason was throwing all of his cards at Dick, who was looking for cover. At the same time Dick was tossing cookies at Jason, who was trying to catch them in his mouth.

"Hah, caught it!" Jason announced as he caught a cookie between his teeth.

"So did I." Dick said through gritted teeth, he caught a card between his teeth.

"Dick…. You're weird." Jason said with a laugh.

"Says you, but you're just jealous that I'm awesome." Dick said as he removed the card from his mouth.

"You can dream." Jason said as he ate his cookie.

"So… you wanna help me clean up this mess?" Dick said as he pointed out the cookie bits and cards spread around the room.

"Not really…..but I'm guessing you want me to, right?" Jason stated as he grabbed some cards.

"Yep, your guess is correct." Dick said as he worked on getting the cookie crumbs. It may be a rundown apartment complex, but their house area was rodent-free and they didn't need any crawling their way into it.

"Uh, I guess." Jason said flatly. It took the two boys about ten minutes to clean up their mess.

"Hey, Jay, I'm going to go out for a bit. Do you want anything?" Dick said as he grabbed his worn shoes and a worn, black hoodie.

"Not really, but where're you goin' all of a sudden?" Jason asked as he went back to throwing cards at the wall.

"I just felt like going out for a bit." Dick said plainly. "You care to join me?"

"Nah, I'll just stay here and get a card stuck in the wall." Jason said with a smirk.

"Right, you do that." Dick said as he flashed a "peace sign" and left.

"Have fun." Jason called out the window.

"You too." Dick called back, and with that he was gone.

Dick had just wanted some fresh air. When he left and put the ladder back up, he looked towards the sky. "It looks like it might rain." Said Dick to himself.

Dick decided that if he didn't want to be rained on much, then he had better start going. He didn't have a plan at all, but he didn't mind, because after all if you don't have a plan, then you could go anywhere you felt like going. When Dick first left out on his trip, he hadn't expected to find another brother.

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_Two weeks earlier_

"I'm home…" Wally West said flatly and, like usual, he didn't hear a response. His parents were fighting, again. Wally trudged his way to his room. His parents didn't even acknowledge him, because they were too wrapped up in their argument. Wally entered his room quietly and locked the door. He threw his backpack against the wall and laid on his bed, with his hands behind his head.

He was growing tired of everything. He was tired of his home life, his school life and Barry, his uncle. At home, Wally was rarely acknowledged by his parents, instead his parents just argued over every little thing, and sometimes they would blame it on him. They neglected him, but it wasn't just that. Sometimes, when his father was real drunk and his mother was out, his father would hit him, for no reason. All in a drunken rage over whatever the last argument had been about. Wally didn't enjoy when that happened, but it wasn't often, thankfully.

School wasn't much better. He didn't have tons of friends there, and sometimes he was picked on by some of the school bullies, he wasn't afraid of them but there wasn't much he could do about them except try to ignore them, which only worked about half the time. His teachers irritated him, because they just didn't seem to care what happened to any of the students. Many of the teachers were even rude to the students, especially the ones that were being bullied, because most of the time the students that the teachers liked were the bullies. He couldn't fathom why the teachers would prefer the bullies over the regular or smart students. Wally, however, would admit that he wasn't a regular student. He procrastinated on most of his homework, but he had a special little secret that made him able to finish it all in minutes – he was a speedster. He had all of the powers of the Flash, except the ability to vibrate through objects, yet.

Those powers were only known by three people, Wally, Barry and Iris, Barry's wife. Wally kept it a secret, but he knew that his uncle was the Flash. Wally had figure it out, and when he confronted his uncle about it and showed him the powers he possessed it didn't turn out how he had thought. He had expected his uncle to be happy and let him partner up with him, but that wasn't the case. Barry taught him how to control the powers and refused to allow him to help. Wally had tried several times to try to help his uncle and all of them ended in a lecture to not do it again, because it was "too dangerous" for him to be fighting villains. He had gotten in trouble more than once because of it too. When he stayed at his uncle's house and tried to fight crime he would be reprimanded, and grounded for the majority of the stay. It happened so often that he was just tired of being yelled at, why shouldn't he use his powers? Why does his uncle get to decide whether or not he's allowed to use his own powers? His uncle didn't have the right to tell him when he could and couldn't use them.

The reasons didn't seem so bad alone, to Wally, but when he had to endure them all, and all in over the course of two days, it was just too much for him. He didn't want this! He couldn't eat as much as he wanted, because then he'd be yelled at by his parents for eating way too much; he couldn't fight back against the taunting, teasing and harassing that he faced at school, because of uncle Barry's request; he was ignored by his own family, except for when they were yelling at him; and his uncle was constantly mad at him for trying to help out, because he was afraid for him. All of these weighing together against him had pushed him to the edge, and he was going to fall if he had to endure much more.

That was when he heard a pounding on the door – he really didn't want to have to deal with others right now. Why out of all the times to acknowledge him did it have to be when he was in a foul mood?

"Wallace West, unlock this door immediately!" His mother hollered through the door.

"Sorry, mom." He said half-heartedly as he got off his bed. He walked slowly to the door and unlocked it.

"You need to take out the trash, and I want it done before I get back." Wally's mother said once the door was open.

"You're going somewhere?" Wally asked.

"Yeah, I'm going out to the store." Wally's mother answered.

"When will you be back?" Wally asked anxiously.

"Not long, maybe an hour, why?" She asked, curious.

"No reason. I'll go do the garbage now." Wally said as he quickly left his room.

"Bye." His mother called through her home as she left.

Wally didn't see his father, but he did see a couple bottle of beer already emptied of their contents. He wanted to get the garbage out quickly and lock himself back in his room. He didn't know where his father was but that wouldn't matter if he finished quickly. He changed the garbage quickly and went to put it out. He was out and in within five minutes. However, that wasn't quick enough, because after he had entered the house and made it to the living room he saw his father.

His father looked angry, and Wally tried to ignore the look and get to his room. He picked up his pace. Before he got to the door he was stopped by his father.

"Get over here." Said his father.

He didn't have time to think or respond before he was pulled by his collar to his father.

"You know it's all your fault, you good-for-nothing." Came his father's harsh words. Wally didn't even try to respond because this had almost become routine.

"If it wasn't for you, then your mother and I wouldn't be fighting. It's all your fault!" Mr. West shouted. Wally felt himself thrown to the ground. Wally kept reminding himself to ignore it all, that his father didn't mean it and that he shouldn't retaliate. Wally felt a kick hit his ribs. The next kick was to his stomach. He felt his father stomp on his chest. This cycle continued for ten minutes until Wally had too much. Wally knew that he shouldn't do anything, but the continuous beating he was receiving was too much, especially when he added it to the mood he was in. Before his father hit him again, Wally used his speed to dodge it and punch his father hard in the stomach. His father was winded and knocked over. With that Wally quickly went to his room and locked his door. He knew that he'd be in trouble once his father recovered, and he didn't want to deal with that. He was tired of how his life was, and he decided he would change it now. Wally dumped out the contents of his backpack and put some clothes in it. He also added the secret stash of snacks he had in his room to the backpack. It wasn't much, just a pack of Fig Newtons and a pack of glazed honeybuns. Once they were in comfortably, Wally grabbed his jacket and opened his window. He looked back for a second and listened to his door being pounded on and all the obscene words being shouted by his father. After a second, Wally started to run. He ran as fast as he could so that no one would be able to recognize him.

He was planning on going to the one place he figured no one would look for him, Gotham city. While Barry didn't allow Wally to participate in fighting crime, Barry did however tell him stories of the crime fighting world. He knew that most people would stay away from Gotham, heroes included. His uncle and his parents wouldn't think of checking there, nor would anyone else.

It hadn't taken him too long to reach Gotham. "At least I have super speed," he thought, "because this trip would've taken forever without it." Before he reached the city's limits he stopped going full speed. He didn't want to be caught using his powers. He intentionally went to a rundown portion of town, because he knew that it'd be the only place he'd be able to find somewhere to stay. He was still on the fence about whether or not it was smart to have just left like that. After an hour he settled on an alleyway with some minor coverage, but he met some problems.

"This spot's already taken, got it, boy?" Said a middle age man. The man had ragged clothes on and long dark hair.

"W-what?" Wally asked nervously. There was three other men around the same age as the first in the alley with him.

"Are you dense or just dumb, kid? This place is ours so get lost." Said the man.

"Can't we share it?" Wally questioned.

"Kid, you really are an idiot. Here're your options, so listen closely, understand?" The man spoke irritably. Wally shook his head, signaling that he understood. "Good now listen up, you can either leave and live or stay and _die_"

Wally had decided to give up on the area, he didn't want to be killed over a spot. He was starting to believe that he had made a horrible mistake by running away. He went around that portion of the city for another spot, but every time he found one it was already occupied! He eventually found a spot in an alley outside an Italian restaurant called "Giovanni's Pizzeria." It wasn't much but it was as close to shelter as he was going to find.

_Three days later_

Wally had eaten through his rations already. He should've accounted for his speedster hunger rather than just grabbing some snacks. He felt starving, but he couldn't do anything about it unless he went back to his parents or stole, and stealing was bad so he didn't want to. Wally, instead, started to eat some of the leftover food that tended to be thrown into the dumpster by the restaurant. He didn't do it often, because he found it disgusting and because there normally wasn't anything left. The people at this restaurant tended to eat everything on the plate, and if they didn't do it, then ate the leftovers that weren't touched.

That's when Wally realized that unless he wanted to go back to his family he'd have to steal food. He justified it to himself as only being a small thing, just enough to survive he reasoned.

Meanwhile, in Central city the Flash and the West family were searching like crazy and wondering why Wally would run away. All Wally's father told them was that Wally had locked his door and stayed in his room for whole time that Wally's mother was gone. Wally's father told his family that Wally must've left during that time, but he did not tell his family what drove Wally to leave.

_Time skip: One week_

Wally had been a runaway for a week and a half now, and he learned that it wouldn't be easy to survive if he didn't steal more. He still hadn't changed his residence – the back alley with the dumpster. He wasn't enjoying this "free" life very much and figured he had made a bad choice by coming to Gotham, because, while he hadn't been found yet, the people in Gotham weren't very friendly. On a few instances that he would've had a good meal, it was taken away by other people.

He didn't have many people to talk to and that made the days last forever. He had started to do little super speed sprints when he knew no one was around. It gave him something to do.

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Practicing his acrobatics, Dick moved on top of a building. Prior to becoming and orphan, Dick had been an acrobat with his family. They had been a six person team and were considered one of the best troupes in the world. Their group was known as "The Flying Graysons." It had been fun, and Dick enjoyed being a performer, doing the stunts and bringing joy to the audience. Then one night in Gotham, everything changed. A man by the name of Tony Zucco had sabotaged the act and Dick's entire family fell to its death. The circus couldn't keep him and that led to him being placed into the orphanage, which then led to the detention facility and his escape.

The reason Dick came out to practice was more so for some down time. He enjoyed how much better his life has been since he met Jason. Before, when he had met and convinced Jason to come along, he had been acting happier than he was, but now he was actually feeling happier. A roof over his head, a brother to talk to, a bed to sleep in and food to eat. There wasn't much more to ask for, not that he could see.

Dick leapt from the top of the building he was on to the top of another. He made it and stared at a nearby sign. It was a couple blocks away, but from where he was at on top of this building he was able to read the sign, "Giovanni's Pizzeria."

"I wonder if Jay would like some Italian food." Dick thought to himself with a sly grin, it wasn't normal for them to get takeout food, but it'd be a pleasant surprise for Jason.

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There was more rain clouds in the sky now than there was earlier. Wally was starting to hate the rain, it ruined his moments of peace, because he ended up being soaked. He used to love the rain, but after living out in it for two weeks it was more troublesome than enjoyable anymore. He just sat in his alleyway in a corner next to the restaurant's dumpster. His clothes looked so worn now and ragged. It did make sense, because he had been out here for two weeks.

Wally was didn't mind stealing anymore, because he had to resort to it just to survive these last two weeks. Those two weeks followed a routine almost, and Wally was expecting just another boring day. Or he was until a boy in a black hoodie rolled off of the roof into the open dumpster.

"Whoa, dude, you all right?" Wally asked as he jumped up to look at the boy in the dumpster.

"Just peachy, I was aiming for the dumpster." The boy said with a smile "It's a softer landing than the alleyway's ground."

"Yeah, I suppose it is, but why were you planning on falling here anyways?" Wally asked, this kid was peculiar.

"I thought it'd be easier to get into the restaurant through the back." He answered honestly. The boy finally pulled himself off the bags of garbage and climbed out of the dumpster.

"Why not through the front door, wouldn't that be easier?" Wally asked, he finally managed to get a good look at the boy. He wore a black hoodie, black pants and worn-down shoes. It dawned on him why this boy wouldn't go through the front, it was because he was broke too and was planning on stealing it from the back.

"Nope, not really. When you're getting takeout for two it's easier to go in the back, same if it's takeout for one." The boy noted. "Speaking of takeout, does this place have it?"

"Um, yeah. I think they do." Wally answered confused.

"Great," Said the boy "do you want to work together with me on this?"

"What do you mean?" Wally asked absentmindedly.

"I mean, do you want to work with me to get some food from the kitchen?" The boy said calmly.

"Dude, are you crazy?" Wally asked, nervously. He had stolen, but not from that restaurant. That restaurant was right there, and if he was caught then he'd lose his alley spot.

"Nope, perfectly sane." He said with a grin.

"We'd both get caught if we did, you know that?" Wally returned.

"Okay, if you don't want to you don't have to." The boy said casually. He was planning on getting the red head something to eat too, because he looked hungry.

Wally stared at him. After all, who tells a person that they are going to commit a crime and then doesn't make the other person join in so they can't squeal?

"Well, I'm going to be in and out before you know it." The boy said with a thumbs up.

"Well, good luck then." Wally said awkwardly, he was tempted to ask the boy to get him something, but figured that since he didn't join in on the theft that he didn't deserve to reap any of the spoils.

"Thanks." The boy said as he went over to the door and stealthily opened it. He peered in the room and smiled. "I'll be right back."

Wally looked straight at where the raven-haired boy had been just moments ago, then he slowly moved to the door and peered in himself.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Who leaves the back door open?" Dick thought to himself after he opened it and looked it. He saw a big white kitchen, fully stocked with appliances and food. He was at the back of the kitchen, where the dishwashing area was, but no one was there. There was also a pile of dishes suggesting that someone was either off duty or neglecting duty. It made it easier for Dick though. He pulled his hood up and went inside, carefully closing the door behind him.

He moved acutely and quietly. There was a corner section right by the door he came in and he peered around it. If he went straight, then he'd be in the dishwashers' area, but if he went left, then he'd be at the kitchen. He went left, but quickly ducked under a prep-table. There was a dozen cooks in the back. This would be harder than he thought.

Dick crawled on the ground. He was slowly making it closer to the end of this prep-table. He was trying to hit any of the cooks' feet, because they'd know he was there then. There were two cook lines, and he was in the prep-area of the farther back's prep-area. He needed to reach the end of this line and somehow make it closer to the front of the restaurant, where there was food, packed and ready to go. Then he saw a hand start to reach under the table he was at. He had accidently stayed in front of a flour bin!

He ducked down, hoping not to get caught. He saw the hand reaching and reaching, but if he would've moved the he'd be found. The hand was going to touch him and not the flour bin, and then it'd all be over, he'd be caught! He watched it come close, and was waiting for it to touch him, it'd be a matter of seconds. That touch never came, instead he heard someone say: "Ehi, Vitoli, vieni sull'uomo. E 'il compleanno di un ragazzo e tutto il personale devono cantare per lui. Ora." (Hey, Vitoli, come on man. It's a kid's birthday and all the staff have to sing to him. Now.)

"Non può aspettare un minuto?" The cook, presumably Vitoli, said back. (Can't it wait a minute?) Dick didn't understand a word of it, but he assumed it was Italian, considering the restaurant type.

"No, gli ordini del boss. Dobbiamo andare adesso." The other man said back. ("No, boss's orders. We have to go now.")

"Ciò che rende questo ragazzo così importante che tutti noi dobbiamo cantare per lui?" Vitoli questioned. ("What makes this kid so important that we all have to sing to him?")

"E 'il compleanno l'uomo di suo figlio, vuoi essere licenziato?" The man asked with some bite to his tone. ("It's his kid's birthday man, do you want to get fired?")

"Oh, è suo figlio? Merda. Sto arrivando." Vitoli said worriedly, as he rushed out with the other man. ("Oh, it's his kid? Crap. I'm coming.")

Dick waited a second and saw that everyone was gone. He got up and quietly ran to the pickup zone. He grabbed two giant, brown bags, filled with three to go boxes of food, and started to make his leave. He was going to give one bag to Wally and take one bag with him to split it with Jason. He started to move as fast as he could with two bags in his hands, but something caught his attention. A giant chocolate fudge cake was on a table. Dick marveled at it. The cake was bigger than his head and thicker too. It was leaking with chocolate fudge. The plus was that it was already in an enormous to go box, all he'd have to do was close the lid and throw it in a bag, which there just happened to be one lying precariously next to it. He took the risk, it'd be something that Jason and he could enjoy, but he did know that it was being somewhat greedy. He got it boxed up, in the bag and grabbed the bag's strings with his teeth. He started to move, but heard the people come in.

Dick silently crawled under a table with a tablecloth on it. It would keep him from being as noticeable. Peering out from under his cover, Dick looked around. He saw the boy he met in the alley looking nervously around the corner that he had been around earlier. He also saw the cooks all get back to their stations.

"Per l'amor di dio ... Chi ha preso la mia torta? Ho appena finito! Un cliente è in attesa su di esso, che uno di voi spostato?!" He heard a cook yell. The cook had been standing in front of the area that Dick had pilfered the cake from. (""For the love of god... Who took my cake? I just finished it! A customer is waiting on it, which one of you moved it?!") The cook sounded really angry.

"Come potrebbe una qualsiasi di noi hanno preso, Donatello? Eravamo tutti là fuori con voi!" He saw who he thought might've been Vitoli say back. ("How could any of us have taken it, Donatello? We were all out there with you!"). Dick tried to keep out of sight under his cover and not make a sound, but the bag crinkled a little.

He knew that caught the attention of the cooks.

"Penso che potremmo avere un po 'ladro nella nostra cucina." Donatello said as he started movie in the direction. ("I think we might have a little thief in our kitchen.")

Dick was considering trying to bolt right then and there, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to out run them if he took the food with him. The cooks all moved closer, and Dick was about to bolt. He looked towards the entrance where he had seen that boy earlier, but he was gone now. "Well at least I didn't drag him into this." Dick thought.

Then out of nowhere this blur color came speeding into the room. With how erratic its movements were, Dick couldn't see what it was, but it resembled a mini-tornado and it messed up the kitchen. The cooks all tried to get away from it, and to do that they ran into the dining room. The moment they were gone, so was the mini-tornado. Dick crawled out from his spot with the three bags of food and ran out the way he came in, not worrying about being caught.

When Dick got out there, he went to the other side of the dumpster where the boy was.

"Hey, it looks like you did it." Wally said smiling.

"Yeah, but of course I had help from a tornado." Dick said with a laugh and a knowing look in his eye.

"A tornado, inside a building? You really are crazy." Wally laughed.

"Noooo, but I have a question for you, I thought you didn't want to help?" Dick replied with a knowing grin.

"Huh? I didn't help." Wally tried lying, but failed miserably.

"I just wanted to thank you, oh and this bag is yours." Dick said as he handed over the bag in his left hand.

"B-but I didn't help you." Wally said back trying to refuse the bag.

"Tell yourself what you want 'Mr. Tornado', but I was going to give you one before you saved my tail, and now that you did I'm going to force you to take it." Dick laughed.

"Uh… But you don't have to, I didn't do anything." Wally replied.

"If you say so, but I'm not taking that as an answer." Dick replied, "You're getting the bag."

Wally finally accepted the bag, and then he thanked him.

"So what's your name?" Dick asked the boy, they hadn't introduced themselves yet.

"Um, Wally." Wally answered, unsure of why he was asking.

"It's nice to meet you, 'Um, Wally.'" Dick said with a laugh and a friendly smile, "My name is Richard, but you can call me Dick."

"It's nice to meet you too.." Wally replied.

"So, what brought you to this alley tonight, Wally?" Dick asked as he set down both his bags.

"What do you mean?" Wally questioned.

"What got you to come here?" Said Dick.

"I sort of live in this alley…" Wally answered awkwardly. That hadn't been what Dick was expecting, but it did make sense, because why else would someone be sitting in an alleyway with the threat of rain overhead. It reminded Dick of himself when he first started. Dick had started out in just a simple alleyway like Wally, so Dick knew that the homeless tended to be rather ruthless about their spots.

"You couldn't find another spot, could you?" Dick asked absentmindedly, "Um, sorry that was rude."

"No, it's okay, and it's true. Everywhere I went I was thrown out of by other people." Wally sullenly replied. Dick had a look of deep thought on his face and then he said something out of nowhere.

"Do you want to be one of our brothers?" Dick asked, fully serious.

"One of your what?" Wally asked confused.

"Do you want to be one of our brothers? We both lived on the street before, so I don't think he'd mind you joining us. We have a house and it's getting more stocked and feeling more like a home every day." Dick explained.

"You mean that you want me to be with you guys?" Wally asked nearly flabbergasted. He couldn't believe that someone would just offer him a place to stay, especially someone he just met off Gotham's streets. The last two weeks made him believe that nothing like that could happen anymore.

"Yeah, I'm sure my brother would like you, especially since you saved me." Dick said happily. Wally was starting feel something he hadn't in a long time, welcomed; however, Wally didn't want to get his hopes up.

"Well if you want me to, then I guess I could join you and your brother, but only if he doesn't mind." Wally replied as Dick and he picked up the bag and went on their way. Dick led them on the ground rather than leaping off rooftops. The walk was full of random chitchat, then Dick decided to ask a newer question.

"So are you related to the Flash or something? Because it looked like you were a speedster in there." Dick asked quietly so that no one would hear.

Wally decided that if Dick was going to take him in, then he should at least answer his question.

"Yeah, actually I am, he's my uncle, and I'm a speedster like him, but he didn't want me to be." Wally answered sullenly. Dick could tell that it was a sensitive topic and so he decided not to ask anything more. "It's okay, Wally, you don't have to say a thing if you don't want to. I'm not going to judge you nor will my brother."

"Um, thanks, Dick." Wally said as he watched Dick slow down. "Is something wrong?"

"Nope, just trying to get there without other people noticing." Dick whispered as he looked around. "Follow me." With that, Dick started a slow run through abandoned buildings. Wally hadn't trouble following him, especially since Dick was trying not to mess up the food in the bags.

It was five minutes later when Dick decided no one was watching and that it would be safe to go to his house. When they arrived Wally wondered how they were going to get up to the room.

"Watch this." Dick said with a laugh, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!" he shouted.

"Dick, if you do that again I'm going to leave you out there." Jason shouted from the house, sounding mildly annoyed. On the other hand, Dick was laughing to his heart's content. After a minute, Dick spoke up.

"I brought some Italian food, let's eat it before it gets cold." Dick shouted up towards the room. "I also brought a surprise."

Wally watched as the ladder came down with the rope attached to it. The he watched as Dick impressively climb ladder with his hands full. After Dick got to the top, Wally climbed back to the top after him. Once he was on the landing, Dick pulled up the ladder and locked it.

"You were out for a while." Wally heard come from the room. Wally followed Dick inside. "Huh, who's that?" Said a raven-haired boy from in the room.

"Oh this is Wally, the newest addition to our family." Dick said with a smile. It didn't look like Jason was going to argue, after all Dick had done the same to him.

"Well nice to meet you, Wally, I'm Jason and I'm ten years old (**a/n:** I decided to age Dick and Jason up a little so I updated it. Jason is now ten and Dick is twelve)." Jason said with an outstretched hand. Wally shook his hand and they did the usual greeting for when you meet someone new. "Welcome to the family."

"Thanks, and I'm thirteen-years-old." Wally said sheepishly.

"We brought Italian food, Jay! And I grabbed a giant chocolate fudge cake!" Dick announced with joy in his voice, it wasn't often that they got to enjoy stuff like that.

"No way!" Jason said excitedly, and then an even bigger grin grew on his face. "Hey, watch this." Jason grabbed three playing cards and put them between his fingers. Then he performed some hand-motions to confuse them and threw all three at the wall. Each went into it a quarter of the way, and stuck straight out.

Dick's mouth just sat open, baffled. He didn't expect Jason to do it.

"Wha-huh-how?" Dick asked uncertain.

"Whoa, awesome." Wally said with a mini-applause.

Jason gave a mock bow and grinned at Dick. "I told you that I'd be able to do it."

Dick was absolutely speechless. "Are we going to eat now?"

No response. "Okay, well me and Wally will just eat then."

That snapped him out of his shock. "No, wait for me!"

With that, the three went to the table and started eating.

"This is good, but I don't think I'm going to be able to finish this, and we have dessert too." Dick said.

"Ugh, I know. I wish we had a working fridge, we'll have to eat what we want to now and throw the rest out, or it'll spoil." Jason said.

"I don't mind eating it." Wally offered. It was the first time in forever that he got to eat until his speedster stomach was full.

"So he's a speedster, like the Flash then?" Jason asked curious.

"Yeppers." Wally replied.

"I have a feeling that we're going to be going to the store tomorrow." Dick laughed.

The other two boys laughed a little as well, a bond was forming among the boys.

Once they were done eating, and everyone was full, even Wally (a feeling he hadn't had in too long), Dick showed Wally around and explained the house. Wally picked the couch bed as his. Their little family was growing.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

**A/N:** So what did everyone think of the chapter? I think it went well, but I'd like your opinions. I enjoyed writing this piece. Also, I'll answer any questions you have, but I will not give you any spoilers to the story! So if you have one just ask and you shall receive your! (Because I'm a genie like that.) On a side note, whichever of my stories gets the most reviews will be the one that gets my primary focus, but I'll still work on the others as well. I'm trying to get a routine of which stories to update.

P.S. I got the Italian from Google Translate, and I'm sorry if it's wrong or anything.


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